Apple has launched a new page on its iTunes Store allowing users to easily donate money to the American Red Cross toward Super Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the Philippines. The donation page, which is accessible through the main Apple.com page and the desktop iTunes Store, permits donations at the $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 levels.
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Apple will transfer 100% of each donation directly to the American Red Cross, allowing users to have their donations seamlessly billed to their existing iTunes Store accounts. With Apple currently holding over 500 million iTunes Store accounts with credit cards attached, the company has a very significant customer base that can take advantage of the donation program.
Apple has conducted several similar campaigns in the past, most recently in October 2012 following Superstorm Sandy, in March 2011 following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and in January 2010 following the Haitian earthquakes.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Do not donate to the red cross. They hoard money. (http://gawker.com/5958176/the-coca+cola-of-disaster-relief-whats-the-red-cross-really-doing-for-hurricane-sandy)
So we shouldn't donate so they won't have ANY money to spend on ANY aid? Sounds like a smart idea.I mean, if the way they do business means that they have billions of dollars ready for potential disasters, I'm all for that. As for them keeping 9% of the money, they need to get paid.
For example, Save The Children (www.savethechildren.org/) gets 64/70 (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4438). Doctors Without Borders gets 57 (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3628). Red Cross gets 56 (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277)
There are many others to research, but any amount will help those in need in some way. Even if The Red Cross takes a bigger chunk for administrative purposes, they still spend a huge absolute amount on real aid.
Does anyone know how a charity gets on that page? The red cross is notorious for not spending its money on the specific disaster in question, husbanding the money for something else. Also, the donation is to the American Red Cross, even though the Philippines has its own Red Cross organization. Why?
Thanks for mentioning all this so I don't have to...I really wish people would take more care when selecting charities. There are many better charities out there than the red cross, whose CEO makes over a million bux each year.